South Africa says delegation will ‘engage and persuade’ stakeholders on its ‘bipartisan’ response to Russia-Ukraine conflict
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced he will send an envoy to Washington to clarify Pretoria’s position on Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
According to Obed Bapela, deputy minister in the presidency for performance monitoring and evaluation, the move follows criticism of South Africa. “non-participant” And “non Aligned” position on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the country’s long-standing relationship with Moscow.
President Putin is due to visit South Africa in August for the 15th BRICS summit – and concerns have been raised over whether Pretoria intends to act on the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC ) issued against the Russian leader for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The South African Communist Party, in an April statement, claimed the timing of the arrest warrant, issued just before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia in March, indicated political motivation and historical inconsistency.
“Unfortunately, the imperialist powers continue to manipulate this multilateral institution and use it for judicial imperialism,” the SACP wrote in a statement, according to local news outlet News24.
The party added that “Despite numerous appeals and ample evidence, the ICC has consistently refused to indict people like Netanyahu, Bush, Clinton, Blair and Obama who have destroyed countries and killed thousands of people.”
In 2017, the ICC found that South Africa breached its obligations by failing to arrest former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visited the country in 2015 for a summit of African leaders.
As a signatory to the Rome Statute establishing the court, Pretoria has sought legal advice on how to deal with the ICC order against Putin.
According to the presidency, the planned visit to Washington, which is not a member of the ICC, will enable South Africa to “engage and persuade” regarding his position in Russia. Although the identity of the envoy leading the delegation has not been revealed, Bapela said its members will be highly experienced and could include former ministers.